Sunday, May 25, 2014

Business Spotlight - The Ice Cream Dugout - By Michelle Libby

At The Ice Cream Dugout there’s no such
thing as a swing and a miss. It’s always a homerun!

Nothing says summer better than ice
cream and baseball, and when they are mixed it must be The Ice Cream Dugout.

With a change in ownership, patrons will
notice subtle changes and some re-branding, but according to owners Ryan Roy
and Steph Morrotta, “You can’t fix what’s not broken.” They bought the shop on
Route 302 minutes from Seacoast Fun Park last September.

“The shop has an awesome following and
loyal customers,” Roy said. The Dugout serves many flavors of Shain’s of Maine
hard serve ice cream, from Almond Joy to smurf from Irish crème cookie to
vanilla, there’s something for everyone.

The shop also dishes up soft serve ice
cream. Roy added another machine to increase the number of flavors soft serve.
Regularly they have peanut butter, coffee, black raspberry, vanilla and
chocolate and seasonally they have flavors of the week, like coconut, pumpkin
or blueberry.

Roy and Morrotta, who are planning a
wedding soon, are not new to the ice cream business. Roy’s first job was
scooping ice cream at Northland Dairy Treat in Turner. He later purchased that
shop and sold it last week after eight years.

“Our dream is to be in the Windham area.
It’s a beautiful location. I saw The Ice Cream Dugout for sale. It was a dream
come true,” Roy said.

The previous owner and the creator of
the idea for the Dugout, Troy Locke, ran the business for almost 10 years.

“He loves the Red Sox, we love the Red
Sox,” said Roy. “I hope he feels he sold to the right people.”

One thing the couple would like to do is
create their own homemade ice cream at the shop. They would then have the home
team ice cream made at the Dugout and the away team made by Jeff Shain. “When
we do it, we want to do it right. Best taste, best quality, best ingredients,”
said Morrotta.

They also created a few more sundaes to
add to the extensive menu. With names like “Grady Sizes’More, Dulce de Lester,
The Hall of Fame AKA the “Troy-eo and The Sweet and Salty Spot”, how can an ice
cream/baseball lover go wrong?

Getting involved in the community has
been a goal for Roy and Morrotta as well, including a “Take me out to the
Dugout” fundraiser competition for area little league teams and softball teams.
In the end the winning team earns 20 percent of the sales for the event.

“We try to give back as much as we can,”
said Morrotta.

The number one flavor served is cookie
dough ice cream. They also have homemade whip cream as well as homemade waffle
cones. They are open from noon to 9 p.m., but once summer starts they will be
open until 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. on the weekends.

“We can’t wait for summer,” Roy said.

For more on The Ice Cream Dugout, visit
them on Facebook or online at www.icecreamdugout.com.

Picture of Aliyah Rogan, 16 mos. With
her mom Monica Dadiego and dad, James Rogan.